squeamish

English

Alternative forms

  • sweamish, swaimish (dialectal)
  • squeimish, squemish, squeamous (obsolete)

Etymology

Alteration of earlier squeamous, substituting -ous with -ish, from Anglo-Norman escoymous.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈskwiːmɪʃ/
  • (file)

Adjective

squeamish (comparative more squeamish, superlative most squeamish)

  1. easily bothered or upset; tending to be nauseated or nervous; oversensitive
    He might have made a good doctor, had he not been so squeamish about the sight of blood.
  2. averse or reluctant

Translations

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